Biggles in Mexico/plot
Chapter 1: Sun and Sand This scene-setting chapter begins with Biggles and Ginger driving along a dusty road in searing heat of the Sonora Desert in Northwestern Mexico. As might be expected, all kinds of trouble beset them. They are uncertain of their location. Biggles had been unwise enough to attempt the journey in a second-hand car, and the clutch begins to slip. The car finally fails when they are still some twenty miles, by their estimation, from the town of Eltora, their destination. Chapter 2: A Most Unlikely Story The plot now rewinds to explain how Biggles and Ginger end up there. It starts with Air Commodore Raymond telling Biggles he needs to go to Mexico. Some time ago, there had been a big diamond robbery in London which had ended with a caretaker being shot dead. The gang, led by one Nicolas Brabinsky managed to leave the country and are now believed to be in Mexico. Scotland Yard had come to know about this through a crook and "squealer" named David Adamson. Chapter 3: Stranger Than Fiction Adamson, insisted that he had left the gang before the robbery/murder. Nonetheless, he was afraid and ran off to Canada when he heard about it. He then made his way through the United States and then into Mexico where he found himself in the small desert village of Eltora after his car broke down. There, by an incredible coincidence, he bumped into Brabinsky and the rest of the gang. They had apparently sailed in a private yacht from England for Tangiers to meet a diamond buyer but had been shipwrecked. After being picked up by a passing merchant ship they had been landed in the United States where they made arrangements to meet another buyer. However Brabinsky had become nervous about carry so many diamonds about in the United States and so they made their way to Mexico but remained near the border as they were expecting the diamond buyer, one Hugo Schultz. Air Commodore Raymond explains that the diamonds are valuable industrial diamonds. It is politically sensitive and vitally important that the gems do not end up behind the Iron Curtain. So he needs Biggles to go to Eltora to confirm if Brabinsky is still there. Why Biggles? He doesn't "smell" or look like a policeman, Raymond says. Chapter 4: Biggles Makes a Call Biggles calls on Erich von Stalhein, recently rescued from prison in Sakhalin, on the off-chance that he might know Hugo Schultz. Being a case of murder and not of politics, von Stalhein is less reticent to reveal what he knows. He had worked with Schultz before. An expert smuggler and ex-murderer, he had been picked up during the war and worked worked for Germany running blockades. After the war, found employment with Russia as a valuer and buyer of diamonds, especially from sources which needed his smuggling skills to get them home. Above all, he is a dangerous man. "He carries a gun and is always ready to use it." Chapter 5: Eltora A party of Indian villagers met Biggles and Ginger and help to get their car restarted again. They get over the hill and see Eltora in the near distance. On their way into town they ask directions from a swarthy but smartly dressed horseman in a huge silver braided sombrero--someone whom they will later learn is a wealthy rancher named José Fonderi. Getting to the only hotel in Eltora, the Casa Grande, they meet Carlos Cornelli chatting with the local policeman Juan. Juan at first insists their passports are not in order but, taking a hint from Cornelli about what's needed, a twenty dollar bill settles the matter and they are made welcome by the innkeeper Pepe. Chapter 6: Ritzy Calls Biggles is not surprised when Brabinsky calls, ostensibly to ask if he can help, but really to see who they are and find out what they want. There's a close shave when he seems to find the name "Bigglesworth" familiar--someone at Scotland Yard, but he doesn't recognise Biggles. From the meeting, Biggles learns that he is still awaiting Schultz, who is supposed to be arriving any time, in a blue Cadillac. Chapter 7: Murder by Moonlight Towards evening, it's the turn of Samuel Brimshawe (or Nifty) to pay a visit. Nifty tells them he is tired of the place but can't leave as he has no money as Brabinsky controlled all the funds. They see Cornelli walking past with a guitar and Nifty gives Biggles some more background. Against Brabinsky's orders, Cornelli had been romancing one Margarita, the daughter of a naturalist and fiancee of José Fonderi. This was sure to get them in trouble. Brabinsky would be furious. Nifty rushes off to tell his boss. At nightfall, Biggles and Ginger take a walk to the outskirts of town. They see a horseman riding by into town. Then they hear a shot and the horseman rides away past them in a hurry. There is a moment of mutual recognition: it's José. Getting into town they see a group of people including Juan. Cornelli has been shot and murdered! Everybody knows about Cornelli and the girl and assume the killer must be José. Chapter 8: The Blue Cadillac Juan shows up at breakfast and proudly tells Biggles and Ginger he knows who killed Cornelli and shows them the bullet. After he leaves, José calls. He had ridden into town prepared to kill Cornelli but someone had killed him before he could. He would not have been ashamed of killing him, but as things stood, he objected to being blamed for a shooting done by someone else. Worse, by riding away, people now think he is a coward. Biggles tells José he is certain he didn't do it. The bullet Juan had came from a .38 automatic. José's weapon was a Colt 45. However he had not told Juan anything yet. José thanks Biggles for the information and leaves to speak to Juan. Next, a blue Cadillac shows up with someone fitting the description of Hugo Schultz, accompanied by two escorts. They brusquely demand rooms at the inn. Nifty comes running over in a tizzy with news: based on José's testimony and the evidence of the bullet, Brabinski has been arrested for the murder of Cornelli! Chapter 9: Biggles Makes a Deal Schultz and his men come down from their rooms and meet Nifty. They are obviously not pleased to hear the news about Brabinski. Hearing that he has been taken to a prison in Hermosillo, they drive off to look for him. Meanwhile, Biggles makes Nifty a deal: he needs money so he offers two hundred dollars to borrow Brabinski's car for a few cars so that Ginger can drive back to the U.S. to get the spare part for their broken down car and also contact Algy. Nifty agrees. Chapter 10: Bad Luck for Ginger Ginger has all kinds of bad luck on the drive to the border. First it begins to rain. He punctures a tyre and has to change it in the rain. Next the rain becomes a deluge and the road is washed out by the flash floods. The car is carried by the torrents dumped into a canyon. Ginger is unhurt but soon gets lost in the desert. Chapter 11: Biggles Sees Daylight Next morning Schultz brings Juan to the inn and tells him to arrest Biggles for the theft of Brabinski's car. Biggles denies that it was theft. He had borrowed it and Ginger had driven it towards the border. In a thoroughly bad mood, Schultz and his men drive off in the Cadillac after Ginger. With the commotion over, Nifty tells Biggles that Schultz broke Brabinski out of jail the night before, and in the process, Brabinski had shot a policeman. Given this, neither Nifty nor Biggles can understand why Schult should be making a big fuss about the car. Surely their concern was the diamonds? Then it dawns on Biggles that the diamonds must be hidden in the car! Chapter 12: A Friend in Need ... Biggles is worried about what Schultz might do if he fond Ginger but having no transport there is nothing he can do. At this point, José drives into town in a station wagon. Biggles asks if he can borrow the car. In response, José offers to drive him himself. By taking short cuts through the desert, they get ot the border post at Sonoyta where they learn that Ginger never arrived, and Schult and his blue Cadillac had arrived but had then turned back! Obviously Ginger must have broken down and is lost somewhere and must be running short of water. Schultz hasn't found Ginger's car yet and so had to turn back. He hasn't got the diamonds! José knows the border guards well and so arranges for Biggles to cross to the U.S. side where he puts through a call to Algy and Bertie, telling them to rent an aircraft and search the desert for Ginger. Meanwhile, José and Biggles head back for Eltora through the desert. Chapter 13: Lost and Found Ginger finds a source of water and decides to mark it by plantnig his handkerchief on a stick and mounting it on top of a mesa. He then spots the road and from there makes his way back to Eltora--and his surprised that Biggles isn't there. But he doesn't have time to rest. Schultz comes back and forces him at gunpoint into the Cadillac, and back to the desert he goes. Ginger can't understand the big fuss about the car, but Schultz talks about shooting him, so he chips in to help, aiming to postpone the inevitable. He spots his handkerchief and suggests they got to the mesa where they can get a better view of the desert. Chapter 14: Exit Ritzy From the mesa, Ginger spots the canyon and soon Brabinsky's car is found. Schultz's men tear the car apart and Ginger now realises why they want the car. A Piper Cub appears overhead, quartering the desert and circling occasionally but neither Schultz, Brabinsky nor Ginger connect it to themselves. Brabinsky tells them the diamonds are inside the front offside tyre. The men cut it open but find nothing. They do the same with all the other tyres, all without success. Angry, they get ready to shoot Brabinsky. Then Ginger remembers that he had a puncture and had changed one of the tyres--and he instinctively speaks up, trying to save Brabinsky. But Brabinsky decides to take his chance and run away and is promptly shot in the back. Chapter 15: Ginger Takes a Chance The party now begins searching for the spare wheel. Ginger spots it but keeps quiet knowing that revealing its position could be fatal for him. The party stops at a cactus to examine wheel tracks. Ginger seizes the moment and yells a fake warning about a snake, causing everyone to jump. He then runs off into the bushes. He doesn't get far as he trips and sprains his ankle. But the others can't see him and shoot wildly over his head. Chapter 16: What Biggles was Doing Fortunately, José and Biggles are nearby. At Eltora they learn that Ginger had been forced into the Cadillac by Schultz so head back out into the desert. They soon find the wreck of Brabinsky's car and Brabinsky's body. Then they spot the Cadillac stopped on the road. Where are Schultz and the others? Suddenly they hear gunshots. Biggles runs towards the sounds, calling for Ginger. Ginger answers. There is a single shot but it doesn't go near them. Then they hear a scream, and then two more shots, from two different weapons. Biggles finds Ginger and then Schultz. Schult has been shot, either by one of his men or by accident. One of Schultz's men is also dead--killed by José in an exchange of gunfire. Biggles hears moaning, but José warns him not to get close. The man has probably been bitten by a snake, and there is nothing they can do for him. Ginger tells them about the tyre. They retrieve it and head back to Eltora. Chapter 17: All's Well That Ends Well Biggles retrieves the diamonds from the tyre but Ginger has to lie up for a few days while his ankle heals. Algy and Bertie arrive to collect them and they all say goodbye to José before heading for Mexico City. There the diamonds are handed over to the British ambassador and Biggles and co. head for home. Category:Plot summaries